You Can Have Both
by blackquilled
Summary: Ron sends Hermione owlpost. Harry sees it, and he and Ron have words. Mentioned Romione, but ends fluffy Harmony. Ron-Bashing, you have been warned. One-shot. T for certain words only.


A/N: Inspired by a true story, though not exactly based on it. Holler to my "Dearest" friend, just in case she reads this. ;)

A black owl landed on the owl perch next to the kitchen sink at nine in the morning on a Sunday.

Hermione grimaced at the sight of it. It was Ron's owl, and it no doubt bore a letter begging her to go back to him.

After the war, Hermione and Ron had dated for a few months. They continued their usual bickering until it blew completely out of proportion. Ron would storm out on her regularly, and Hermione would curl up on the sofa in tears. And so she had ended things with Ron, growing tired of their constant arguing four months ago.

Now, Ron was dating Tracy Montgomery, a teammate on the Chudley Cannons.

Hermione wasn't seeing anyone. She was much more content just working on furthering her career as a Healer at St. Mungo's.

Hermione sighed and untied the small note from the black owl's leg. She tossed him an owl treat from a drawer. _Just because Ron's a prat doesn't mean the bird should suffer_.

Against her better judgment, she decided to read the note anyway.

It read:

_Dear Hermione,_

_Please come back to me. I've given Tracy everything I've got, but the one thing I need to give her – my heart – is still with you._

_Yours always,_

_Ron_

Hermione nearly threw a fit. _The nerve_, she thought.

"Good morning, Hermione," Harry greeted, trudging into the kitchen. His hair was more tousled than usual, since he had no doubt just rolled out of bed. He sat himself across from her on the island in the kitchen.

For a moment, Hermione forgot the letter in her hand as she stared at the man that she shared a home with. Since her breakup with Ron, she had definitely grown even more attracted (because she had already started out to be _very_ drawn to Harry) to him.

"What's that?" Harry asked, pouring himself some pumpkin juice.

"Oh, just some junk mail," Hermione covered, balling it up and hurling it toward the trash in the corner. She was actually a pretty good shot, but today, her aim was off. The paper ball bounced off the side of the trash bin.

"I doubt that," Harry said, walking over to it.

"Harry!" Hermione tried to stop him.

Harry unfurled the scrap of paper and read the message. "Ron wrote to you," he stated.

Hermione froze. She didn't know what Harry meant with those words. She couldn't tell if he was angry or happy about this.

"And he wrote something pathetic, like it came out of one of those sappy romantic dramas on Muggle television," Harry laughed, balling it right back up and dunking it into the bin.

Hermione cracked a smile. At least he wasn't happy about it. _Actually, I'd prefer if he was indignant that Ron's acting so juvenile_. She had been hoping for some kind of indication that Harry was glad she and Ron were over for weeks now. He always seemed so…ambiguous about it.

"Though, I have to ask, how long has this been going on?" Harry sat back down to drink his juice and eat his breakfast that Hermione had made.

"Since a few weeks after our breakup?" Hermione squeaked, unsure of how Harry would take this.

Harry's brows furrowed. "That's longer than he and Tracy have been dating."

Hermione nodded. "It's getting to be a bit annoying, if you ask me. It disturbs my work, and it's very inappropriate!"

After Hermione finally poured out the entire three months' worth of messages and groveling Ron sent her, they had lunch. And in the afternoon, Hermione left to go check on one of her more delicate patients at St. Mungo's.

It was long after she had gone that Ron decided to pay Harry a visit.

The three of them shared a flat after the war, but Ron moved out in the middle of his relationship with Hermione. It had been so that the two of them might have a place to call their own 'someday', but eventually, it had turned into Ron's hideout when they fought, and now it had turned into his home.

Ron knocked on the door to what was now Harry and Hermione's flat.

"What do you want?" Harry demanded, opening the door only a crack.

"Can I just come in?" Ron asked.

Harry relented and swung the door open for him to walk right in.

"Where's Hermione?" Ron asked.

"Out," Harry replied through gritted teeth.

"What's up with you, mate?" Ron asked, his eyebrows rising.

"I read a certain note you sent to Hermione this morning," Harry said.

"What about it?"

"Honestly, what the hell were you thinking?" Harry asked.

"That she should come back to me, because she _belongs_ with me," Ron said matter-of-factly.

"Can you hear yourself, Ron? You're dating Tracy Montgomery! Do you really think Hermione, or any woman for that matter, is going to prance right back into a relationship with you? Do you really think Hermione would even _consider_ that?" Harry ranted.

"Where the fuck is all that coming from, Harry? I don't need to hear you gloat and tell me _you've_ bedded her." Ron said. He looked suspicious and by the looks of it, he was growing increasingly pissed off.

"I have not 'bedded' her, Ron!" Harry told him.

"But you'd love to," Ron taunted. "Poor Harry Potter, Hermione Granger doesn't seem to think he's worth letting her pants down for. That's because she's _mine_, Potter."

Harry shook his head. "She really wouldn't be pleased to hear you being possessive and vulgar when she doesn't even _like_ you as a _person_ at the moment."

"I suppose you'd know, you spend all your nights trying to get into her pants," Ron snipped.

"Stop it, Ron," Harry growled. "This is not about me getting with Hermione! This is about you constantly disturbing her with those disgusting letters of yours! You're seeing someone, and I can only wonder if Tracy knows about this whole letter-writing thing. Either way, Hermione has had enough of your antagonism in her life. She doesn't deserve to be treated like this!'

"Oh? And tell me, Harry, what do you think she deserves?"

"She deserves to be happy, dammit!" Harry snapped. His fists clenched. "Why can't you just let her?"

"She _could be_ if she came back to me."

"No, she wouldn't, because you can't love her the way you should," Harry said in a low voice. "All you do is upset her, insult her and make her cry then _walk the bloody hell out _on her!"

Ron rolled his eyes. "And you think you can love her like she deserves just because you're Harry-bloody-Potter, the bloody Boy Who Lived?"

Harry shook his head again, his jaw tightening in anger. "Not because I'm the Boy Who Lived, but because I'm just Harry, and I _do_ love her."

There was a gasp from the doorway. Hermione was standing there with her coat still on.

Ron smirked. "Well, if I can't have her love, then _you_ can't even have her friendship," he said right before he Disapparated.

Harry closed his eyes and let out a long breath of air. His expression softened, and his fists loosened. He turned to look at Hermione slowly. "Heard that, did you?" he said lamely, trying to gauge how she felt after hearing that particular confession. His hand ran through his hair nervously.

Hermione regained some composure before she gave a small smile and said, "Yeah."

Harry mouthed an "Oh". He shoved his hands in his jeans and gazed down at his shoes. For once, it was awkward talking to her. His secret was out. He waited with baited breath for the inevitable blow. Ron was right.

"So you _were_ mad at Ron," Hermione mused. She couldn't suppress the shiver of feminine delight that raced down her spine at this knowledge that Harry had feelings for her. Never mind all that nonsensical angst of denying it was in the romantic way, she was too old for that cheese. She decided to take a leap of faith and came closer until she was only a little less than two feet from him.

"Hermione, I…" Harry trailed off.

Hermione's hand came up to his cheek. "Shh." She smiled softly. She knew what he must have been thinking. "Ron was right about not having my love, but he was wrong about you not having my friendship. In fact, you can have both."

"Wh-What?" Harry stuttered incredulously.

"You heard me," Hermione said. "You. Can. Have. Both," she emphasized each word separately, enunciating with her mouth.

"A-are you sure?" Harry asked rather stupidly. He was definitely at a loss for words. He hadn't expected this.

Hermione grinned radiantly. "Of course, I am, Harry," she whispered before raising herself on the tips of her toes and kissing him softly.

As they parted, Harry exhaled contentedly. He gave a low chuckle. "I think I can die happy now, Hermione," he said.

Hermione shook her head in amusement. "You silly, silly man, Harry Potter," she said, linking her hands behind his head to pull him closer. "This is just the beginning," she said against his lips before kissing him again.

Harry wrapped his arms around her and deepened the kiss. Hermione had chosen him, she was certain, so who was he to deny her?

-End-


End file.
